


We’ve Met Before (Once Upon A Dream)

by imperfect_impermanence, Pickosita5



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: 10K+ Words, A character is being threatened with falsely being accused of rape, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Can this be considered a 3+1???, I basically rewrote teen wolf, I put so many commas, I'm Sorry, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, M/M, Mentions of Rape, Minor Character Death, Stiles Stilinski Has Panic Attacks, Yes Beta we survive, no actual rape happens, sterekvalentineweek2021
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 22:54:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29426313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imperfect_impermanence/pseuds/imperfect_impermanence, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pickosita5/pseuds/Pickosita5
Summary: “But don't you remember? We've met before!”“We-We have?”“But of course. You said so yourself, once upon a dream.”Stiles wrinkled his nose. “Still a creep for sneaking up on a girl in the forest.”
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 3
Kudos: 46
Collections: Sterek Valentine Week





	We’ve Met Before (Once Upon A Dream)

**Author's Note:**

> My entry for the 2021 Sterek Valentine Week Theme: Fate  
> This is a story in four parts, I hope you enjoy them all. :)  
> Beta-d by my very best friend imperfect_impermanence

Stiles was 8 years old when his mother died.

Frontotemporal dementia was a slow killer. It took four years before it got bad enough for her to die on the little hospital bed in a blank hospital room with Stiles by her side. But he didn’t go by Stiles then, he was still Mischief, even Mitch. Mieczysław if he was in trouble, with her stern voice, arms crossed over her chest and lips tugged down into a frown.

He didn’t like making her angry, so he tried his best to be a good boy, even if it didn’t always work out (he still wasn’t sure how exactly he managed to break the handle off the frying pan, just that he was disappointed his Father’s Day pancakes were too burnt to be eaten).

Stiles, still Mischief that day, wished his mother could go home. They could make pierogies together again, and he can talk to her about his time at school without getting distracted by the heart monitor next to them. He told her all this as he held her hand, playing with it while he talked. Pulling her fingers, lacing their hands together, rubbing his thumbs over the palm of her hand. He talked and played, his mother watching him with far away eyes, a tired smile on her lips.

“Mischief,” She spoke, interrupting his latest ramble (he wanted to get a puppy, that way she wouldn’t be lonely at home while he and his dad were out at school and at work). “I need to tell you something very important,  _ mój słonko _ .”

Stiles nodded at his mother. If she had something important to say, he had to listen to her every word. It was very,  _ very _ important.

“You have a gift,  _ mój słonko _ . A very special gift that I passed down to you. Your father knows, he will tell you all about it when you’re grown. He will give you everything you need for your gift.”

“Why can’t I have it now?” Stiles pouted.  _ If it was a gift, why couldn’t he open it with her right then? _

“This gift is different from the others,  _ mój słonko _ . It’s not a present you can open.” She chuckled, shaking her head. “But I love how innocent your mind is.”

Stiles beamed at his mother, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek. She turned her body toward him on the bed, reaching out with her free hand to cup his face.

“ _ Kocham cię _ , Mischief.” She whispered, like it was a secret. “I love you and your father very, very much.”

“We love you too, Mama.” Stiles was smiling. “Can you sing me the song?”

“Which song do you want me to sing?”

“The one you and Daddy sing all the time to each other, the one with the sun!”

Claudia smiled at her son. She knew it would be the last time.

“Alright.” She cleared her throat and started singing. Stiles squeezed her hand, closing his eyes with a content sigh. He loved it when his mother sang. She sang many songs, and Stiles knew them all by heart. One day, when he got older, he would sing them all to her.

“ _ You are my sunshine, my only sunshine  
_ _ You make me happy when skies are gray  
_ _ You'll never know dear, how much I love you  
_ _ Please don't take my sunshine away _ ”

She sang softly, her voice fading. Her eyes drooped and her hand went limp in Stiles’s grasp. The only reason it didn’t fall to the bed was because Stiles was holding it.

“Mama?” Stiles blinked his eyes open, surprised.  _ Did his mother fall asleep again? _

She did that sometimes. Mama would drift asleep at home while they were watching movies, when she was reading him his bedtime stories, and there were also times she’d nap standing up in the kitchen when she was cooking something.

One time, before she stopped driving her jeep, she fell asleep at the wheel when she was taking Stiles to school. They were at the light of an intersection and the light had just turned green, but the car didn’t move. That’s when Stiles knew she was asleep as his mother was usually a very good driver. Stiles tried to wake her from where he sat in his car seat in the back of the jeep. He yelled, kicked, and threw his lunchbox at her seat, but his mom wouldn’t wake up. Stiles then started to cry, wondering if there was something wrong with his mom. Finally, someone from one of the other cars walked up to his mom’s window and began to pound on it. Stiles was scared, thinking it would break and hurt his mom. His mom didn’t wake up even then.

Stiles didn’t go to school that day, or for the rest of the week that followed until his dad was able to move his schedule around at work to be able to take him. On the first morning his dad drove him to school, the man began to explain the reason why his mom was always tired was because of the treatment she was going through. It took a lot of energy out of her. 

“Mama.” Stiles shook her hand and frowned, it was starting to feel clammy. The heart monitor beside them began making a continuous, long  _ beeeeeeeeep _ sound. A voice yelled from outside his mother’s room.

“We got a code Blue in room 356!”

Stiles jumped as the door flew open and nurses rushed into the room.

“Get the kid out of here!” A nurse called out as he flipped Claudia onto her back and started pressing down onto her chest. Stiles knew what that was called. CPR, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. Resuscitation meant to bring someone back to life.

His mother was dying.

Stiles was carried out of the room by a nurse, watching from over her shoulder as the other nurses pumped down onto his mother’s body, trying to get her heart beating again. The nurse placed him on the empty chair that stood across from the door and walked back into the room, closing the door behind her.

Everything in Stiles’s vision fell away until all he could focus on was the horrible feeling in his stomach, like a belly ache, but much much worse. It hurt a lot, making tears gather in his eyes. He couldn’t cry in front of his mom, she wouldn’t want to wake up to his tears.

Stiles pushed himself off the chair and wandered down the hall to find somewhere quiet where he could cry. After turning a few more corners, Stiles found a secluded, unlocked janitor’s closet. He quietly entered the dark room and closed the door behind him, sitting with his back to the far wall. He then pulled his knees up to his chest and began to sob.

He wanted his dad and his mom and for none of this to have ever happened. He wanted his mom to be healthy and to not forget his birthday anymore. He wanted for none of this to have ever happened. He wanted to go home, with his mom and dad and the puppy, and watch  _ Sleeping Beauty _ , and fall asleep between  _ both _ his parents.

He just wanted to go  _ home _ .

The door to the closet creaked open and light streamed in. A silhouette fell over Stiles and he sniffled, looking up. He saw a boy. The boy didn’t look to be much older than Stiles. He was big, but not as big as his dad.

The older boy stared down at Stiles with big green eyes, frowning. His ears looked a little big for his head, and his eyebrows were very bushy. They looked like caterpillars had been glued onto the older boy’s face. It almost made him want to laugh.

“You’re crying.”

Stiles blinked, sniffling. It took him a moment to realize the boy was talking to him.

“Mhm.” Stiles nodded, wiping at his tears. The boy furrowed his brows, walking closer to Stiles.

“Why are you crying?”

“Mama’s not waking up, and the heart beeper machine isn’t beeping anymore and the nurses kicked me out of the room. And Daddy’s not here to pick me up yet.” Stiles croaked, kicking his legs out. The boy moved to sit beside Stiles, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and pulling him close for support.

“Sometimes they don’t wake up. But it’s okay. She’s gonna go somewhere that will make her happy and you’ll see her later when it’s your turn to go. My mom said my grandpa was going to go there soon, which is why we came to visit the hospital too. So don’t be too sad, I don’t think your mom would want you to cry.”

Stiles sniffled, nodding, wiping his nose on his hoodie sleeve. “Okay.”

The older boy stood up and held a hand out for Stiles. Stiles took it, also standing. Then, to Stiles’s surprise, the boy picked him up and positioned Stiles so he could tuck his face in the older boy’s neck.

“My mom said this would help my little sister when she would cry, so maybe it can help you. I’ll take you back to your mom’s room. Maybe your dad is here now.” The older boy said as he carried Stiles out of the janitor’s closet.

“356. That’s the room number.” Stiles told him.

“Okay.”

Stiles watched the hospital from over the older boy’s shoulder, tired from all his crying. He couldn’t even talk, which would surprise his dad. His dad always comments about his inability to keep quiet.

“Mitch! Oh thank God!”

Stiles turned around and saw his dad. His face was red and wet. His dad had been crying too. The older boy set him down, cupping the back of Stiles’s neck and squeezing lightly.

“It’s okay. You’re gonna be okay now.” The older boy told him, then he smiled. For the first time, Stiles noticed the older boy’s bunny teeth.

“Thank you.” Stiles mumbled. The boy nodded at him, then to Stiles’s dad before walking away. Probably to his mom.

“Where’d you go, Mitch? Who was that boy?” His dad asked, kneeling in front of him in the hospital hallway. Stiles blanked. He completely forgot to ask the older boy for his name!

“I don’t know. He just found me crying and brought me back to Mama’s room.” Stiles frowned. “Is Mama okay?”

The man ducked his head. Stiles knew what that meant. He wrapped his arms around his father’s neck and pulled him in for a hug, tilting his head so his dad’s face was pressed against his neck.

“This is supposed to help. It helped me, so I hope it helps you too, Daddy.” Stiles whispered. His dad’s arms wrapped around him and he got pulled into an embrace by his father.

Stiles hummed, remembering what his mom had told him. “Mama said that she has a present for me. She said you’ll show me what my gift is when I’m older. And she told me that she loved us very much, Daddy. Then she started singing the song you two sang a lot, the one with the sun.”

His dad started to weep, the tears wetting Stiles’s shoulder. Stiles ran his hands through his dad’s hair as he started singing the same song as his mom.

“ _ You are my sunshine, my only sunshine  
_ _ You make me happy when skies are gray  
_ _ You'll never know dear, how much I love you  
_ _ Please don't take my sunshine away _ ”

They held each other tightly, the empty room beside them echoing his dad’s cries as the janitor’s closet did for him. When his father pulled away, one of the nurses that Stiles saw around his mom sometimes walked toward them holding a clipboard with some papers.

“Mr. Stilinski, we need you to fill these out for us,” he said.

“Yes, Mr. Lloyd. Thank you.” Stiles’s dad took the clipboard and sat in the chair across the room Stiles had been sitting in earlier. “Mitch, why don’t you get your stuff from the room? We’re gonna go after I finish things here.”

Stiles nodded, walking into the room. He stopped just past the doorway, looking around the empty room. White ceiling, white walls, no bed anymore. Just some machines hooked up to a wall and the bedside table pushed away, along with the chair Stiles would sit on beside his mother.

His backpack was on the chair, probably placed there by one of the nurses, so he walked over to retrieve it. Something fluttered to the floor as he walked past and Stiles looked down to find the source. He recognized it as one of his drawings. He’d drawn it at school the day before and brought it in to show his mom.

The picture was of him between his mom and dad, and he was holding one of their hands each. Beside his mom was a black and white puppy. Their house was drawn behind them, the sky was blue with the sun in the corner, and the ground under their feet was green. Everyone was smiling in his drawing.

Stiles frowned, shoving the picture into his backpack.

He wished he was as happy as he was in the drawing.

He wished he had his mom.

  
~ ♥ ~ ♥ ~  
  


Stiles was 11 when the Hale family’s house was burned to the ground with most of the family inside, leaving only three survivors.

It was late at night, or early in the morning (depends on your perspective), when his father woke him up, and told him to get some shoes on.

“Where are we going?” Stiles yawned. He was Stiles now, no longer Mitch or Mischief. He stopped going by that after his mother’s death.

“I’m being called into the station. Melissa can’t pick you up until later, so you’re gonna have to come with me.” His dad explained. Stiles nodded and clumsily got out of his bed, almost falling on his face when one of his legs got tangled in his sheets, barely managing not to fall. His dad had left his room to get ready since the man was still in his pajamas.

He shuffled over to his sock drawer and pulled out a pair of grey wolf socks. They matched with his grey wolf onesie. His mom liked a lot of animals, but wolves were always her favorite. She would call herself his Mama wolf, though he remembered her constantly comparing him to a fox instead. She would always say something about them being mischievous and how it related to his name. He didn’t really remember anymore.

Stiles put on his sneakers and grabbed his backpack and a few books from his bookshelf, not really looking to see which ones he got. Any would be good to keep him entertained at the station when he wasn’t asleep.

“Stiles, we gotta go!” His dad called from downstairs. Stiles hefted his backpack onto his shoulder and trudged out of his room. He couldn’t wait until he was older and he wouldn't have to be babysat all the time. He wouldn’t need to be taken to the station or have to wait until Ms. McCall picked him up from his house and be taken to hers so he would be with Scott and not home alone. That sounded so nice at the moment, but it would have to wait.

“Here, Dad.” Stiles yawned, walking with his dad out the door and to the cruiser. Stiles climbed into the backseat of the cruiser and put his seatbelt on.

Stiles stared out the window, watching the scenery fly by as his dad drove to where he needed to go. Even with his sleep addled mind, Stiles could tell something was off.

“Dad, where are we going? Are you sure we’re heading toward the station?” Stiles continued to stare as more and more trees filled his line of sight, the moon almost covered as it barely peeked from behind the branches as they drove down a dirt road.

“I have to make a quick side trip.” The man told him firmly. He obviously wanted Stiles to drop the subject, but Stiles was too curious. So, instead of using his words, Stiles he turned away from his window and shifted so he could stare out the front windshield. They drove into a clearing and Stiles gasped.

There was a large house, no a small mansion, standing in front of them. And it was on fire. There were firetrucks and ambulances already on the scene, the first responders rushing to put out the rest of the fire and save the people inside. There were tarps laid down on the floor by one of the squad cars, and Stiles had been to enough crime scenes to know what that meant. Towards the edge of the clearing was a lone ambulance, with two disheveled looking people among the uniformed responders. One a boy sitting at the back of the open ambulance with a blanket on his shoulders, the other an older looking girl who stood next to him.

“Stiles,” His dad repeated, taking his attention away from the scene before him. The man had turned to look at him from his seat, and his eyes were boring into Stiles. “I want you to stay in here. I’m going to bring a few people that are going to ride to the station with us. Be nice to them, okay? They just lost a lot of family.”

“I will, Dad.” Stiles nodded. He remembered how it felt when he lost his mom, whoever his dad came to get must be feeling the same thing he did. Knowing this, Stiles reached into his backpack and pulled out his word search puzzle book. The therapist lady his dad made him talk to after his mom’s death, Ms. H. W. Graham, said that, “Sometimes, distracting yourself from the situation could help you heal from it until you were ready to look at it again.”

Hopefully, whoever got into the cruiser with him liked word searches.

Stiles looked up again when he heard footsteps approach and saw his dad walking toward him with two people: the boy and girl from the ambulance. Stiles undid his seatbelt and slid across the seats until he was behind the driver’s seat, dragging his backpack with him. He clicked the seatbelt back in place after he settled in his seat. His dad opened the passenger door for the girl, but the boy opened the rear door for himself and sat in the seat farthest from Stiles. The two pulled the doors closed and Stiles’s dad walked away again, probably to go talk to the sheriff. Stiles stared at the older boy, then the girl, blinking.

“Hi, I’m Stiles Stilinski, I’m 11. What’re your names?” Stiles spoke up. The silence was making him squirm and he couldn’t handle it any longer.

Both the boy and girl turned to look at him, as if they had just realized he was there. Stiles waited for them to say something, but they still said nothing. Stiles picked up his word search puzzles book instead.

“I have some word search, do you wanna play? Or I got a sudoku book.”

The boy blinked slowly, turning his head to the side as he stared at Stiles. The girl was the first to react to him. She smiled and began to speak.

“Hi, Stiles. My name is Laura, and this is my brother Derek. I’m 20, and he’s 15.” Laura told him. Stiles nodded in greeting.

“Do you wanna play with the word search, Laura? Or do you want sudoku? I play either when I’m bored and my teacher doesn’t want me to run around the classroom.”

“I’ll take the sudoku, thanks.” Laura held her hand out and Stiles handed her the sudoku book. Stiles then turned to Derek.

“Do you wanna do word searches with me?” He asked. Derek nodded cautiously, still not speaking. Stiles moved to sit in the middle seat, then opened the puzzle book to the page he last left off. The theme for that page was camping. When Stiles caught the word ‘CAMPFIRE’ in the list of words to find, Stiles quickly flipped the page to the next puzzle. It was about types of dogs.

“What type of dog is your favorite? Did you have any pets? I like German Shepherds because my dad works with them sometimes, they’re K-9 units ya know? But my favorite animal is wolves. My mom liked wolves too, but she would say I’m like a fox a lot of the time because foxes are mischievous creatures in mythology and I would cause a lot of trouble for her. Did your mom give you nicknames too? What’s your favorite animal?” Stiles rambled as he pointed out a word for Derek to circle. The word ‘TERRIER’ was now circled by a blue glitter pen. Stiles loved glitter pens. He never really told anyone because he didn’t want to be made fun of, but the blue ones were such a pretty color.

“You talk a lot.” Derek finally spoke up. Stiles looked up at him, then shrugged.

“My dad said it was okay as long as my big mouth didn’t go getting me into any trouble. His words, not mine. Besides, you didn’t answer my question.” Stiles pointed out.

“Which one?”

“Any.”

“Uh…” Derek tapped the pen against his cheek, not looking up. “I like wolves too.”

Stiles beamed at him. “Really?! Did you know the average foot size of a wolf is 4 inches wide by 5 inches long? And the gestation period is around 62-75 days. Gestation period is how long it takes for the baby wolf to be made in the mama wolf’s belly until they come out. Usually the liters are from 4-6. Isn’t that cool?! It sucks that California doesn’t have any wolves. There are wolf sanctuaries though, my dad took me to one for my tenth birthday! It was super fun. Have you ever seen a wolf?”

Derek stared at Stiles as the kid rambled on and on about all the wolf facts he knew. Laura smiled in the front seat with her sudoku puzzle, finishing up another square.

Stiles jumped when the door opened and his dad climbed into the cruiser with them, seeming to be finished with whatever he had to do at the scene.

“Dad! Dad! Did you know Derek likes wolves too?! I was telling him about the one time you took me to see the wolves and how cool it was.” Stiles told him. Noah gave him a tired smile.

“That’s nice, Stiles. Now put your seatbelt on, we’re going to the station now. Our guests have to answer some questions.”

The mood in the car dimmed significantly. Derek hunched his shoulders and turned away from Stiles, looking out the window instead. Stiles’s smile faded, but he didn’t argue as he put his word search puzzles book back into his backpack. The drive to the station was silent. He couldn’t bring himself to continue the conversation anymore.

When they got to the station, everyone climbed out of the cruiser and Stiles went to sit in the chairs by his dad’s desk, close to the interrogation rooms. His dad followed behind with Laura and Derek, leaving Derek with Stiles as he took Laura into one of the rooms.

Stiles swung his legs underneath him, looking around the bullpen and wondering if Athena was in that day. Mrs. Grant was one of the nicest members on the force to him. He heard she was gonna move to L.A., which made him kinda sad since he’d known her and her family since he was a baby. He wondered who would replace her on the force.

Someone sniffled, and let out a choked sob. Stiles looked over at Derek, finding him hunched forward with his face buried in his hands. He let out another sob.  _ Guess the word search distraction didn’t work forever, he had to face the problem now… _

Stiles reached out carefully and tapped Derek gently before he placed his hand on Derek’s shoulder. Derek didn’t shrug him off, so Stiles kept his hand there.

“Derek, why are you crying?”

Derek didn’t respond, he just shook his head. Stiles pursed his lips, remembering the day his mom died and how bad he felt that day, until the boy came and helped him feel better. Well, it was settled then! He would have to be Derek’s boy.

“When my mom died, I was really sad too. But then someone told me she was gonna go somewhere that was gonna make her happy. He said I’d see her there later when it’s my turn to go. And that made me feel better, because she was really sick and I knew it made her sad, so it was good that she was gonna be somewhere that was gonna make her happy. Your family is going there too! So don’t be too sad, you’re gonna see them later.” Stiles pat Derek’s shoulder comfortingly. Derek lifted his head slightly, enough for Stiles to see his teary eyes.

“You don’t understand, it’s my fault.” Derek croaked. “If I hadn’t told her everything, none of this would have happened.”

“Hadn’t told who, what?” Stiles tilted his head in confusion. Derek sighed.

“It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t undo what’s done. It doesn’t bring my family back.” Derek’s voice cracked, and he wiped his face with his sleeve. Stiles sighed. He jumped out of his seat and reached into his backpack, pulling out his  _ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles _ wallet.

“Come on. I’m hungry and want to get something from the vending machine. You gotta come with me so I know what to get you too.” Stiles grabbed at Derek’s jacket and tugged. It was a leather jacket that looked  _ waaay _ too big on him. The sleeves went past his hands! Stiles wondered if the jacket belonged to someone older than Derek and he was just borrowing it.

“I don’t-”

“Come on, Der-Wolf.” Stiles huffed. Derek stared at Stiles in confusion, but it gave Stiles the advantage he needed to pull Derek out of his chair and lead him toward the vending machines in the break room.

“Der-Wolf?” Derek finally blurted.

“You said you liked wolves, and your name is Derek, so, Der.” Stiles shrugged, putting the money into the vending machine and punching in the code for Reese’s cups. Derek snorted.

“You’re calling me a wolf?” He gestured to Stiles’s onesie.

“Dad just woke me up and told me we had to go. I only had time to put my shoes on.” Stiles reached down to pull his Reese’s cups from the machine, then looked up at Derek. “What do you want?”

Derek looked at the selection in front of him and chose the pop-tarts, which were strawberry flavored. Stiles punched in the right numbers and when they came out, he dragged Derek over to the toaster so he could warm up the pop-tarts.

“Cold pop-tarts are for heathens, and we are not heathens, Derek.” Stiles told him very seriously as he unwrapped the pastries. Derek nodded along. Once the pop-tarts were out of the toaster, Stiles shooed Derek over to one of the tables in the break room so they could eat their snacks.

As Stiles ate, he couldn’t help but wonder what Derek was talking about. The ‘her’ he shouldn’t have told anything. He wasn’t one to  _ pry _ but…oh who was Stiles kidding?! He had the curiosity of a cat! (He was choosing to ignore the part about the dying.)

“Who is the lady you were talking about? The one that you shouldn’t have told things to?” Stiles asked. Derek had shoved the last of his pop-tart into his mouth and promptly choked on it. Stiles winced. “Are you okay?”

Derek nodded, he just pounded on his chest until he could breathe again. “Yeah, yeah, sorry. I just wasn’t expecting that.”

“Sorry.” Stiles pursed his lips. “But if there was a lady involved, I think you should tell my dad. It could help with the investigation.”

Derek sighed, looking down at his hands. “…Do you really think it’ll help?”

Stiles opened his mouth to talk to him but they were interrupted by his dad. “Derek, I need you to come in for questioning.”

His dad and Laura were standing at the doorway, watching them. Derek stood up, but Stiles got up with him, taking Derek’s hand in his.

“I’m gonna go in with him.” Stiles announced. His dad sighed.

“Stiles-”

“Sir, I know it might not be proper procedure, but can he go with me?” Derek asked. “I would feel better if he did.”

His dad hesitated before nodding, and Stiles and Derek walked into the interrogation room together. Stiles held Derek’s hand the whole time he was being questioned, playing around with it. Pulling his fingers, lacing their hands together, rubbing his thumbs over the palm of Derek’s hand.

“Is there anything else you’d like to tell me that I can add to the investigation?” Noah asked Derek. Derek froze in his seat, but Stiles continued playing with his hand.

“It’s okay, Derek.” Stiles told him softly. Derek blew out a breath.

“There was this woman, her name was Kate Argent. She got a job at the school I go to as a substitute teacher. She was…attracted to me. I didn’t really do anything at first because my first girlfriend, Paige, died a few months ago, but something about her pulled me in. We started hanging out after school, but nowhere public. She didn’t want other people to know about us, so I didn’t tell my family about her either. Kate asked me about my family, our house, what the woods around our place was like, things like that. She never really told me about hers though…” Derek frowned, staring at the table.

His shoulders started to shake and his eyes shone with unshed tears. “We had sex sometimes. I wasn’t really allowed to do much when we did. Kate would tie me down and do things herself. I thought it was cool of me to be dating an older woman, but after a while it started to feel  _ wrong _ . I tried to break it off with her, but then she started telling me if I did, she would go to the police and tell them that I had r-raped her. I felt trapped, and I finally told my parents about it. We were going to go to the police before she could, at least, that was the plan. Then a few days ago, she told me not to contact her anymore, that she was done. I thought that-that was the end of it, that it was over. But then the  _ fire _ -”

Derek’s voice broke. Stiles squeezed Derek’s hand. He sobbed, hiding his face behind his free hand. Stiles made eye contact with his dad, nodding toward the door. His dad nodded, face grim.

“You can stop there if you want, son. I’ve got all the information I need.” Noah told Derek softly.

Derek sniffled and nodded. Stiles held his hand tightly and led him out of the interrogation room toward where Laura was sitting. Laura stood up immediately and pulled Derek in for a hug.

“Oh Pup. I’m so sorry you had to go through that alone.” Laura whispered. Derek wrapped his arms around her and cried.

“Stiles.” Stiles turned to see Deputy Halstead and Melissa beside him. Melissa was still in her uniform. She must’ve driven there straight from work. “Ms. McCall is here to pick you up. Do you want me to get your dad?”

Stiles nodded, still clinging to Derek’s jacket. He didn’t want to leave him just yet. He still had to be Derek’s boy. His job wasn’t done yet…was it? His boy hadn’t left until he delivered him to his family, and he brought Derek to Laura.  _ Did that count? _

“Are you ready to go, kiddo?” Melissa asked him. Stiles looked up at Derek, and saw him staring back.

“Do you still need me?” Stiles asked him. Laura smiled from beside Derek.

“I think I got it from here, Stiles.” She told him with a wink. Stiles looked at her, then to Derek. Derek nodded. Stiles hugged Derek, squeezing him tight.

“If you need a place to stay for a while, my dad and I can take you in.” Stiles told them. “I can even share my room with you, Derek, if you want. We can do more word search puzzles together.”

Derek gave him a smile, and Stiles noticed that he had bunny teeth. “I’d like that, Stiles.”

Stiles nodded, letting him go, albeit reluctantly. He had the feeling that if he stopped looking at Derek, he’d disappear. But Stiles gathered his things, he said goodbye to his dad, and walked out the door with Melissa holding his hand.

The Hales never did spend the night at the Stilinski’s.

~♥~♥~  


Stiles was 17 when his best friend Scott got bit by what Stiles was 100% sure was a werewolf and found Laura Hale’s dead body in the woods.

How did Stiles know it was a werewolf that bit his best friend? Well, because he knew about the supernatural. He’s known for quite a while now. Stiles was 13 when his dad started explaining to him that the world wasn’t as  _ normal _ as they’d made it out to be. Werewolves were real, and so was magic. Stiles had laughed it off at first.  _ I mean,  _ werewolves _?  _ Magic _? Come on, he wasn’t a kid anymore…He didn’t believe in that stuff! _

But it wasn’t until his dad had taken him to see Alan Deaton, one of the most skilled veterinarians in Beacon County, that Stiles began to believe that all this magic and fairytale business was the real deal.The man had made a seedling grow into a fully grown plant in front of his eyes, it was the coolest vet visit Stiles had ever been on.

Deaton was a druid, which meant he had a specific kind of magic skill set that was more in tune with that of nature and animals than stuff like raising the dead or summoning a God. He also explained the difference between what he was and a Darach, which was a dark druid. Deaton warned him of dark magic and its consequences, and how all magic was as different as the practitioners.

“Your magic is very different from mine, Mr. Stilinski.” Deaton had told him as he watered the plant. “You have enough magical potential to become a high mage, meaning you are not strictly bound to one type of magic. It’s not much of a surprise to me. Afterall, your mother’s family line does have a history of successfully producing high mages. Your grandfather was one of them. I understand you were named after him?”

“Yeah.” Stiles nodded. Deaton hummed, turning the water off.

He turned around with the pot in his hands and handed it over to Stiles. “If you wish, I can train you so you can start enhancing these powers of yours. Right now, your magical spark is bright. Practice will make it brighter. And soon, you might surpass my training and I would have to find you a better teacher who can continue your studies. In the meantime, I want you to watch over this plant for me. And keep it alive. You may find it useful one day.”

The plant he’d given him was aconitum. Other names for it included aconite, monkshood, and… _ wolfsbane _ . (Stiles lovingly named the plant Connie and she was now growing out in his backyard with other plants Deaton had given him to grow.) In the four years he’d trained under Deaton, the man had taught him many things. Stiles learned everything he could from him and more. Potions, poisons, and the existence of other creatures being a few of them. Deaton had given him a copy of his bestiary, but Stiles made one of his own. He compiled the information Deaton’s book gave him with the information he’d found on his own from other supernatural creatures he’d gotten into contact with, thanks to his teacher of course. Deaton had announced their training complete before the end of winter break, exactly four years after they began, and a week before the dead body was found. He was now in search of a new teacher for Stiles.

One of his contacts was an alpha werewolf of the name Satomi Ito. She was in charge of the territory that bordered Beacon Hill’s lines. Satomi told Stiles many things about the history between the territories, and how the supernatural and mundane worlds intersected.

Apparently, Beacon Hills used to have quite the werewolf population until a particular hunter rolled in and killed them all in a fiery blaze. It wasn’t hard for Stiles to realize what  _ that _ particular detail meant. The Hales were werewolves, and Kate Argent—the woman who was found guilty of massacring the entire family—was the hunter that killed them.

Well, not  _ all _ of them. Derek and Laura had survived, moving to New York. And so had their uncle, Peter Hale. But he was in the hospital in a vegetative state due to all of the damage from his injuries. Stiles visited Peter many times after he figured out the truth about the fire. Derek and Laura never came to visit their uncle, so Stiles went often to keep him company.

But now Laura was dead, her body found by Scott in the woods the night of the full moon. The same night where he got bit by an animal with “glowing red eyes, Stiles!” and lost his inhaler to the dark of the woods.

Stiles informed his dad immediately after getting off the phone with Scott to make sure he’d made it home. Apparently his text helped them know where to look and they found the missing half of the body. Stiles told Scott all this as they walked together into school the next morning.

“How’s the bite healing up?” Stiles asked just outside the doors to school.

“Well, let’s see. I haven’t really had a look at it since I cleaned it and bandaged it up.” Scott shrugged, lifting his shirt. The bandage was stained with dried blood and was taped crudely over Scott’s wound. Scott peeled it off and to his surprise, and Stiles’s dismay, it was gone. The bite had completely healed over, leaving no scar behind.

“That’s kinda strange, don’t you think?” Scott asked. Stiles swallowed, and nodded.

“Yeah, heh. Weird. I’ll, uh, try to look it up. See what that’s all about.” Stiles sighed. “Any idea what bit you?”

“It was too dark to see, but I think it was a wolf. I heard howling.” Scott explained. Stiles blinked.  _ Oh fuck. _

“You must’ve been hearing things. Everyone knows there are no wolves in California. There hasn’t been in sixty years.” Stiles shook his head.

“But you went to see wolves that one time.” Scott pointed out.

“A wolf sanctuary is way different than wild wolves roaming across California, Scotty.” Stiles sighed. He loved Scott, truly, but he was a bit difficult sometimes. “And thanks for the tip about the body, by the way. I told my dad about it and the search party found it.”

“You told him?!”

“I was worried about you!” Stiles huffed. “You didn’t come out from behind the tree so I thought you were the next person on the list for whatever hook-hand-man-Jason-Voorhees-killer was out wandering at night killing people that haven’t lived here in six years.”

Because it’s been six years since the Hale fire. Six years since Derek and Laura left to New York without saying goodbye, at least, they said it was New York. They could have lied to his dad about where they were going to throw off any hunters that may still be after them. Who knows? Not Stiles.

“Stiles!”

Stiles jumped, staring at Scott with wide eyes. “What the heck Scott?!”

“Lydia Martin just walked by and you completely ignored her existence! Are you feeling okay?” Scott frowned, reaching up to place his hand on Stiles’s forehead. “Did being out in the cold last night make you sick? Do you have a fever?”

Stiles swatted his hand away with a huff.

“Yeah, yeah I just…got a lot on my mind I guess.” Stiles rubbed the back on his head. “Besides, I told you already. I’m not into Lydia, I just want her to stop pretending to be an idiot for the benefit of other people. She should benefit herself instead. If she did, then maybe our race toward valedictorian would be  _ way _ more fun.”

“Whatever you say, Stiles.” Scott shook his head, chuckling as they walked into school together.

“If anything, I think I’m more into Danny. Do you think Danny would like me? I know he’s gay, but even gay guys have standards, Scotty. Do you think I fit those standards?” Stiles rambled. Scott nodded along to what Stiles was saying, internally hoping they weren’t late to class. As soon as they got to the classroom, Stiles and Scott got in their seats next to each other and waited for class to begin.

During first period, their teacher, Mr. Feeny, started talking to the students about the body that had been found in the preserve the night before. Stiles saw Scott glance over at him and wink at his friend before turning back to the front. The principal walked in with someone Stiles had never seen before and introduced her to the class.

“Class, this is our new student, Allison Argent. Please do your best to make her feel welcome.”

Stiles froze in his seat. _Argent? Could she be related to Kate? No, no, this all just had to be a weird coincidence. There’s no way they were related. Allison didn’t look like Kate at all!_ _But, then again, he didn’t look anything like his cousin Spencer who lived out in Virginia…_

Stiles watched anxiously as Allison walked down the aisle to sit behind Scott. Stiles noticed Scott move and saw him turn toward Allison, giving her a pen. She smiled at Scott and Scott seemed to melt.

_ Oh no. This was bad. This was so so bad. _

Stiles could barely focus for the rest of class. The day seemed to pass in a blur until Stiles found himself in the hallway with Scott, his best friend staring adoringly at the new girl. Lydia approached Allison and began a conversation with her, the two talking about something Stiles couldn’t really hear from a distance in a busy hallway.

Tammy walked up to Scott and Stiles, looking over to where they were staring. “Can someone tell me how a girl who's here for five minutes can already hang out with Lydia's clique?”

“Because she's hot...Beautiful people tend to herd together.” Stiles shrugged, gaze lingering on Jackson and Danny, who approached the two girls.

Tammy raised an eyebrow at Stiles. “Really Stiles? You’re talking about how hot she is while you’re staring at Danny?”

“Danny is plenty attractive too. All of them are, really. God made people hot to make me miserable.” Stiles sighed dramatically. Tammy snorted, shaking her head.

“Whatever you say, Stiles. I’ll see you guys around.” Tammy walked away with a wave and Stiles waved back, looking at Scott. He was still gazing at Allison longingly.

“For the love of…” Stiles sighed and waved his hand in front of Scott’s face. “Scott, come on before you’re late to practice.”

“Lydia is having a party on Friday.” Scott blurted, blinking the haze out of his eyes.

“Really? That’s nice. Now let’s go!” Stiles dragged Scott toward the lacrosse field, groaning at the thought of being late.

Stiles wanted to try out for lacrosse in freshman year, but since he was always so busy training with Deaton after school, rarely getting a day off, he never got the chance to try out. Besides, he found he didn’t really want to be in lacrosse after watching Scott sit on the bench for pretty much every game. He liked track and field a lot more. It was a sport that required stamina and a strong body, especially strong legs. With the training Deaton had put him through, making him carry the weight of his power on his shoulders, he definitely had that. Coach Finstock allowed him to train with the lacrosse team when they were doing running drills since track and field season was after lacrosse and Stiles was one of the best runners. Stiles changed into his work out clothes beside Scott in the locker room, while Scott and everyone else put on their lacrosse gear. He was gonna run a few laps while they did a game play on the field.

“Do you think I’ll make first line this year?” Scott asked.

“I dunno man. We have been practicing together all off season.” Stiles shrugged. It was true. He and Scott would go to the lacrosse field after school and practice drills together on the days he didn’t have to go train with Deaton. Sometimes other players were there, sometimes they were alone. Coach was sometimes there to supervise, other times he just tossed one of them the keys to the locker rooms and told them to lock the place up before they left. And now that he didn’t have to go train with Deaton every day, instead practicing for a few hours at home, he could help Scott out more.

_ …Or not. _

Stiles’s jaw dropped as he watched Scott’s performance on the field. He looked like he was born to play lacrosse. The bite’s power must’ve already taken effect, like Stiles read would happen. The bite could cure many ailments. Scott’s asthma seemed to be gone, and replaced with the reflexes and instincts of a wolf.

“This is not good.” Stiles whispered, watching Scott celebrate the goal he made. Scott waved to Lydia and Allison, who had been watching from the bleachers, and they waved back. Stiles saw Jackson shoot Scott a murderous look. “This is not good  _ at all _ .”

After practice, Stiles and Scott were back in the preserve to try and look for Scott’s inhaler. Their roles had switched as they walked. For once, it was Scott that was rambling and Stiles was the one listening to him.

“I don't know what it was! It was like I had all the time in the world to catch the ball! And that's not the only weird thing. I hear stuff I shouldn't be able to hear, I smell things…”

Stiles perked up at that. “You smell things? Like what?”

“Like the mint gum in your pocket.” Scott pointed to his pocket. Stiles shook his head.

“I don't have any mint gum in my…” Stiles reached into pocket and found a stick of mint gum. He swallowed nervously. ”So, uh, all of that started with the bite?”

“What if it's like an infection? Like…my body is full of adrenaline before a shock or something.” Scott shuddered. Stiles bit his lip. He decided to try and break the news to Scott gently. Maybe he would take it better that way.

“You know what, I actually think I’ve heard of it. It's a specific kind of infection.” Stiles began slowly.

“You're serious?” Scott stared at him with wide eyes. Stiles nodded.

“Yeah. It's called ‘lycanthropy’.” Stiles told him.

“What is that? Is that bad?”

“No, not too bad. But only really affects you once a month.” Stiles shrugged.

“Once a month?”

“Uh-huh. On the night of the full moon.”

Stiles smiled at Scott and let out a little howl. Scott punched him in the arm and they kept walking.

“That’s not funny Stiles.”

“I’m not trying to be funny, I’m serious! Scott, the world is filled to the brim with stuff we can’t explain. Who’s to say the supernatural isn’t one of them?!”

Scott sighed, shaking his head as he knelt on the ground. “It's not a joke, Stiles, there's something seriously wrong with me!”

“And I’m trying to tell you what it is!” Stiles groaned, running his hands down his face. “Look, Scott, there’s no easy way to break it to you. But you’re most definitely a werewolf now. And you need to learn how to control yourself. Especially since there’s a full moon on Friday.”

“But Lydia’s party is Friday, and Allison is going! So I’m gonna try to go too.” Scott huffed in frustration. “My inhaler isn’t here! I can’t lose that thing, it cost like 80 bucks!”

“Well, the police did sweep the area after finding the body. Maybe they found it and took it as evidence.” Stiles shrugged. The air shifted and Stiles froze. Someone else was there. Stiles looked up and made eye contact with a man. He reached down and shook Scott, making him look up too. Stiles studied the man in front of him and gasped.

Derek Hale. It was Derek Hale! Derek had his eyebrows furrowed as he stared at the two teens, lips curved down in a frown. Stiles recognized the old leather jacket he wore as the same one from the night of the fire. The older man had grown to fill it better. Stiles continued to study Derek as he stalked toward them, Scott scrambling to get back onto his feet.

“What are you doing here? Huh? This is private property.” Derek scowled at them. Stiles opened his mouth to answer but not nothing came out. He was still trying to process it all. That was Derek Hale. The same one whose hand he held while he was being interrogated and had bought strawberry pop-tarts for? The same one who lost his whole family to a fire, except for one sister, who was instead ripped in half and found in the forest. The same one to smile at him with bunny teeth before he left and Stiles never saw him again.

Stiles wasn’t sure what emotions he was giving off, but whatever Derek smelled made his eyes flick over to Stiles for a split second before looking back at Scott, raising his eyebrows.

“Sorry, man, we didn't know.” Scott spoke up. “We were just looking for something. Um, forget it…”

Derek reached into his pocket and tossed something to Scott, which he caught. His inhaler. Stiles continued to stare at Derek, watching the man walk away and disappear.

“Stiles, you okay?” Scott asked.

“That was Derek Hale.” Stiles blurted. Scott gave him a confused look.

“Who?”

“Derek Hale! You remember, right? He’s only a few years older than us! His family died in that fire six years ago? He was the one I told about, that I was sitting with at the station until your mom came to get me?”

“Oh yeah! Wait, that’s him? Then what’s he doing back?”

“My dad ID’d the body last night. It was his sister, Laura Hale.” Stiles looked to where Derek disappeared. “Maybe he was looking for her.”

“Or maybe he killed her.”

“What?! Why do you think that?!”

“This is the place where I found the body last night! Maybe he came back for it but couldn’t find it because the cops took it.”

“I honestly doubt that Scott. They were two of the last three survivors of that fire, why would he kill his own family?”

“I dunno.” Scott shrugged. “Now come on, I’m gonna be late to work.”

They walked away from the scene, Stiles throwing one last look over his shoulder, wondering where Derek went. Unbeknownst to the two teens, Derek was able to hear everything they said. He knew that lanky kid with the shaved head looked familiar.

~♥~♥~

Stiles was 22 years old, and so much of his life had changed since that meeting in the woods.

Not only was his best friend a werewolf and part of a pack, but so were most of his other friends. Derek was the alpha of the pack, which had grown to include his sister Cora (she wasn’t dead after all), his uncle Peter, Erica, Isaac, Boyd, and Jackson. 

There werewolves were also joined by Malia, who was the daughter Peter had spawned and then completely forgotten about thanks to Talia’s influence (how nice of her to make Peter forget he had a werecoyote daughter). And while she didn’t exactly count as a were-creature, Kira was a fox spirit, a kitsune. And she was pretty good at wielding a katana too.

They also had the magnificent Lydia Martin, extraordinary Banshee and smartest woman to ever grace their presence. There was their resident badass, Allison Argent, hunter to all, except her boyfriend. While they were all still in high school, Jackson convinced Derek to tell Danny about the existence of the supernatural, so Danny was in the know too and acted as their brilliant techy. And to round everything off, was their powerful mage and emissary, Stiles.

And while Stiles loved all of his friends and had no favorites in the pack (Isaac calls him a liar but it was true, he loved Derek and all non-Derek's equally!), they were a bit frustrating sometimes. Like right now, when he was trying to leave the pack house.

He, like a few other pack members, were permanent residents of the pack house they’d built the summer after graduating. Everyone pitched their ideas to Derek when he announced he was going to build them a pack house, and he’d designed it in a way that everyone would enjoy. It came as a surprise to most of them when Derek admitted to having graduated from NYU with degrees in Urban Design and Architecture Studies, and a minor in Business Management.

He started a business in Beacon Hills, designing homes and buildings for people who wanted them, and he’d recently gotten contracted with the city to do something about all the abandoned warehouses in the warehouse district.

Everyone was proud of how much their alpha had grown. The same could not be said for any of his betas, who were acting like children.

“Come on Stiles! Just one movie!” Erica pouted.

“I really need to go, Erica.” Stiles shook his head, reaching for his shoes.

“It’s barely noon, Stiles. It doesn’t close ‘til 8. Come on, one movie.” Isaac gave Stiles his puppy eyes. Stiles was actually immune to those eyes after all the years of having to deal with them from Scott, but he knew that if he didn’t join, the whining would start, and he didn’t want to deal with that today.

Stiles sighed in defeat, putting his shoes back on the rack with the others by the door and made his way over to where they were watching the movie. “Fine. But just the one movie, and then I have to go.”

“Great!” Erica pulled Stiles down so he could sit and Stiles found himself seated beside Derek.

“What movie did you put on?” Scott asked. It was Allison’s turn to choose movies, and as usual, she chose a Disney movie. Allison was going through a bit of a phase at the moment.

“ _ Sleeping Beauty _ .”

Derek shifted around on the couch so his shoulders were touching Stiles’s. Stiles moved to lay his head on Derek’s shoulder like he often did on movie nights. After all the years they’d spent saving each others’ lives, Derek and Stiles had grown close, becoming great friends. And Stiles, well, Stiles wanted to be more. And he had a non-magical feeling Derek did too. Stiles felt a hand hover over his and he lifted his hand to meet it, knowing Derek would likely chicken out at the last second. Well, he wasn’t letting that happen. One of them had to do something if they wanted this to go anywhere.

Stiles reached for the bowl of popcorn Boyd was holding out for him with his free hand, mumbling a thanks. Stiles always found the movie  _ Sleeping Beauty _ kinda sus, especially with the whole ‘kiss her while she’s asleep and the spell will be broken’ thing. The consent was very dubious, and everyone knew about Stiles’s “Consent is Sexy” policy.

“The prince is kind of a creep.” Stiles muttered as they watched the cartoon man poke his head out from some bushes. Stiles was surreptitiously shushed for that comment.

_ “But don't you remember? We've met before!” _

_ “We-We have?” _

_ “But of course. You said so yourself, once upon a dream.” _

Stiles wrinkled his nose. “Still a creep for sneaking up on a girl in the forest.”

“So would you consider Derek a creep?” Scott asked. “He did sneak up on us in the woods the first time we met him.”

“No, that was the first time  _ you _ met him. I’d met him before that, remember?” Stiles asked, as if Derek wasn’t right beside him, watching them talk about him.

“Oh yeah, the night at the station.” Scott nodded.

“What night at the station?” Lydia raised an eyebrow. Stiles looked to Derek, finding the alpha already staring at him.

“You wanna tell them, big guy?” Stiles asked. Derek furrowed his brows. Stiles was able to translate them easily. ‘I don’t feel comfortable talking right now’.

“Okay, do you want me to tell them?” Stiles offered instead. Derek nodded. Stiles turned to the pack then, seeing they all had their eyes on him.

“My dad and I took Derek and Laura to the station the night of the fire. I was there because Melissa couldn’t go pick me up like she usually did in these situations and my dad couldn’t leave me home alone. So we went to the Hale house and took Derek and Laura away. I basically hung out with Derek the whole time I was there until Melissa came to pick me up. So, yeah, I met Derek before that day in the woods with Scott.” Stiles explained.

“You bought me strawberry pop-tarts from the vending machine in the break room.” Derek said softly. “And you made me heat them up because you said eating them cold would make me a heathen.”

“It does!” Stiles scoffed. “Pop-tarts are meant to be eaten warm!”

“Okay, enough of the pop-tarts.” Lydia snapped. “I’m still trying to process how you met before all this.”

“Oh, yeah. Trust me, it was a weird adjustment for me too.” Stiles nodded. “I mean, imagine knowing a family had died when you were 11, then turning 13 finding out they were murdered in an unjust act of blatant racism, speciesism? Whatever, Kate was an evil bitch.”

“Here here.” Everyone muttered before turning back to the movie.

The movie continued on and eventually ended with Aurora and her prince living happily ever after. Too bad Stiles wasn’t getting his happy ending that day.

“Okay, I’ll head out now. But thanks for the movie, guys, it was a nice distraction.”

Because that’s all it was. A distraction put into place to stop Stiles from remembering what day it was, even if it only lasted for a moment. Because it was the 11 year anniversary of his mother’s death. The day had honestly snuck up on him that year. He didn’t realize it was coming until he looked at the calendar a few days ago.

His dad wasn’t in town, he was on vacation with Melissa (because they’re a thing now!), but he wondered how he was dealing with it. Maybe he was handling it better than Stiles.

Stiles walked to the door and put on his shoes and coat, walking out of the pack house with a weight on his shoulders he didn’t quite feel until he stepped out the door. Stiles took a deep breath and marched to his car, ready to continue the day as tradition demanded.

He drove into town and to his mom’s favorite flower shop, sharing a sad smile with the owner, Mrs. Kida Thatch as he walked through the door. Mrs. Thatch was good friends with his mom until the time of her death, oftentimes bringing her flowers when she spent long periods of time in the hospital. She and her husband Milo also babysat Stiles sometimes when Melissa couldn’t.

“You here for the flowers?” She asked, already making her way to where they were stored. Mrs. Thatch always made a beautiful arrangement for Stiles and his dad to take to the cemetery and place on his mom’s grave.

“Yeah. How much?” Stiles asked, reaching for his wallet. Mrs. Thatch waved him off as she pulled them out from the back.

“You know it’s free of charge, kiddo. Tell your mom I said hi, yeah? I didn’t get to go see this morning like I usually do.”

“I will. Thank you, Mrs. Thatch.” Stiles waved at her as he walked out of the flower shop, flowers in hand.

After the flowers, Stiles drove to the diner to get himself some food. A burger, curly fries, and strawberry milkshake, all to go. The hostess gave him a smile and told him to come again as he walked away.

With everything ready, Stiles finally drove to the cemetery. It was easy enough to find a parking spot close to the gates, so Stiles grabbed all his things and ambled through the rows and rows of graves until he reached plot 5, where his mom was buried. Three rows into plot 5 and seven graves down, that was where his mom was buried. Two plots away, in the big mausoleum, was the Hale family. Stiles hadn’t really thought about it until then, how close his mom and Derek’s family were in the cemetery.

Stiles sat in front of his mother, laying his coat down for him to sit on. He smiled at the grave as he put the flowers in front of her.

“Hey, Mama.” Stiles chuckled, setting the food out in front of him. “I’m sorry I’m late. My friends wanted me to watch a movie with them. I think it’s cuz they know about today, ya know? And wanted to help me out. They’re great friends like that. A great pack.”

The breeze blew a bit stronger and a leaf from a nearby tree flew into Stiles’s hair. Stiles smiled gently. “I’m doing good, Mama. The whole pack is! We’ve really been growing close, ya know? The other day, Danny met a guy at the bar. Said his name was Ethan. Danny could immediately tell he was a wolf. Jax thinks he’s one of the omegas that stumbled in a week ago. Derek wants to try and find them and see if they want to join the pack or if they’re just passing through. Danny’s gonna help with that.”

Stiles went on and on, telling his mom about everything that was going on with his pack and life as he ate with her.

“So then I told Lydia, ‘You’ve gone crazy! I don’t have feelings for him!’, and then Lydia gave me this look that made me feel like an idiot. So, I guess she’s right. I started thinking about it after she left. And, Mama, I think I am in love with Der.” Stiles whispered. He had finished eating a long time ago, and three hours had already passed.

After a moment, Stiles sighed. “I don’t think he likes me back, though.”

“Who?”

Stiles squeaked and jumped, turning around to face Derek as he placed a hand over his heart. “ASSHOLE! I AM GIVING YOU A BELL FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY!”

Derek snorted as he laid his jacket down and moved to sit on it. “Good luck trying to get me to wear it.”

Stiles blinked at him in surprise, then turned back to face his mom. They sat in silence for a moment before Derek cleared his throat.

“So, uh, do you just sit here and…talk? To her?” He asked.

Stiles smiled, nodding. “Yup. I just sit here and talk to her.”

“And…does she answer?”

“In a way.”

“Oh, that’s nice.” Derek nodded. Stiles hummed, then chuckled.

“What?”

“Nothing it’s just, I dunno. This kinda reminds me of the day that she died.” Stiles shrugged. “I was really distraught because I was in the room with her when she died, ya know? Holding her hand, talking to her. She sang to me before she died. I still remember what her voice sounded like, all airy and tired. But she still sang to me, the song I asked her to sing, and then she died. The nurses and doctor ran in and I was taken out of the room. As they worked on trying to bring her back, it kinda dawned on me what had happened. She was gone. So I left the room and wandered around the hospital until I found this empty janitor’s closet. I walked into it, closed the door behind me, and began to cry. It was the first panic attack I had after her death, and there would be many more to come.”

Stiles gave a wet laugh, tears springing to his eyes. Remembering that day was always so painful. But it was made better by the memory of the boy. Derek reached out and wrapped his arm around Stiles’s shoulders, pulling him closer.

“I don’t know how long I was crying in there for until he showed up.”

“Who?” Derek frowned. It was a confused frown. It took Stiles a while to figure out the difference that frown and his annoyed frown.

“I don’t know his name, I never got it. I just call him the boy.” Stiles shook his head. “He just kinda… _ appeared _ . I was feeling very alone, and he came. He sat down beside me in the janitor’s closet and pulled me in, kinda like you are now, talking to me. He helped me calm down and feel better about what was going on. He’s the one who told me that my mom was going to go somewhere that would make her happy and that I would see her again, then he took me back to my dad. The words he told me were the ones I told you that night.”

Stiles looked up at Derek, who was staring down at him. “On the night of the fire, I knew you needed someone, like how I did the day my mom died. So I decided I was going to be your boy. My job wasn’t complete until I had given you over to Laura, your family.”

Derek didn’t say anything, he just raised his hand up to cup Stiles’s face. He whispered, “It was you.”

Stiles furrowed his brows in confusion. “Huh?”

“That day, at the hospital. I had gone to visit my grandpa. He was a human, and he was getting very sick. Sick enough that he had to be put into the ICU. I went to visit him everyday, because I didn’t know what day could be his last. One of those days, the nurse had taken him to get a sponge bath, so I wandered around the hospital as I waited for him. As I walked, I heard someone crying. I followed the sound to a janitor’s closet with a little boy crying inside of it because his mother had just died.” Derek explained. “I helped him calm down, and when he was ready to leave the closet, I picked him up and carried him to his mother’s room, where his dad was waiting for him. I left him with his dad and walked away, only hearing the last of a conversation, and his name: Mitch.”

“Which is short for Mieczysław.” Stiles blurted, staring at Derek in shock. “Wait, wait, wait, wait! So you’re saying the boy, that was  _ you _ ?! We met  _ before _ the night of the fire?!”

“I guess so.” Derek smiled. “We’ve met for the first time three times.”

“Actually, it can be argued that it’s been  _ four _ , since that time in the woods was just you being a creep.” Stiles chuckled.

“Well, if one is an incident, two is a coincidence, and three's a pattern…” Derek trailed off, leaning in toward Stiles. “Then what’s four?”

“I guess four’s just fate.” Stiles whispered, pressing his lips against Derek’s.

The wind picked up and the chimes of a nearby grave rang. It was a kiss full of magic.  
  


* * *

Some things as I wrote:

-The inspiration for this is one of the headcanons I created that Stiles and Derek had met before that day in the woods (the hospital & the night of the fire) which is how Stiles was able to recognize de-aged!Derek

-I put references to other shows/movies in here, you just gotta spot them ;) (I’ll give you one: H. W. Graham is a reference to  _ Hannibal _ )

-I diverged from canon  _ so hard _ I practically rewrote the whole damn show

-This was way longer than I originally planned, I didn’t even think I was gonna make it to 5k, but here I am. Can’t believe it!

-In case anyone got confused, Tammy was the girl who talked to Stiles/Scott in the first episode

Written to:

[ Lana Del Rey - Once Upon A Dream (From Maleficent)(Official Audio) ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8waJ7W3QcJc) (I basically had it on repeat forever) 

[ Famy - Ava // s l o w e d ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFVeGtaYgqM) (same with this one) 

[ 51 Minutes of Relaxing Twenty One Pilots Songs | For Sleeping, Studying, Relaxing, etc. ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNmgXC75jcc)

[ 1 Hour of Sad Twenty One Pilots Songs ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8q5CxfpysAQ)

[ 1 hour of my chemical romance sad songs ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac6SHurx588)

[ you're studying in a haunted library with ghosts ( dark academia playlist ) ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1BJ4U9cJFc)

[ I told the stars about you (a dark academia/royalty playlist) ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbuI7p9cgLU)

[ you had a dream about being with your comfort character, only to wake up ( a playlist ) ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4AtjdcZd_k)

[ you watch the person you fell for, fall in love with someone else ( a playlist ) ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YF1G5vyHXmQ)

[ a playlist for the greek gods and goddesses ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_j_L6YApOM)

[ a playlist that will make you feel like the main character | coming of age ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T35w1a2FLrI)

[ Sleeping With Sirens - Acoustic Album ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBtdBd72d34)

(I’m sorry some of these sound so sad)

Translations:

mój słonko - my sunshine

Kocham cię - I love you

Thank you all so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I loved writing it! Have a lovely day everyone! And a special thanks to my beta imperfect_impermanence, who spent four hours editing this fic tirelessly and will no doubt demand brownies from me as compensation for their work.

Check me out on my person Tumblr  [ here ](https://pickosita5stwin.tumblr.com/) or on my fandom account  [ here ](https://oopslookslikeishipgaystwin.tumblr.com/)

Editor’s/Beta’s Notes:

i told this dumb bitch (affectionate) to add me as editor instead of beta but she probably did what she wanted anyway. hi. i came here for my 15 sec of fame. here’s my  [ tumblr ](https://hyperfixations-r-us.tumblr.com/) . i don’t beta for free, i expect brownies for this, fudge specifically. happy valentines day fuckers, enjoy the fruits of our labor  ♥♥♥


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